Jar-cap opener



April 27 1926. 1,582,442

W. P. WHHTE JAR CAP OPENER Original Filed Jan. 6, 1921 Patented Apr. 27,1926.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM 1. WHITE,'0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK,

PATENT OFFICE. I

ASSIGNOR TO ANCHOR CAP & CLO

SURE CORPORATION, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

JAR-CAP OPENER.

Application filed January 6, 1921, Serial No. 435,316. Renewed February25, 1926.

To all whom it army concern:

Be it-known that I, WILLIAM P. 11111;, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Jar-Cap Openers, of

which the following is a specification.

The ,present invention relates broadly to scaling devices and morespecially to a tool for removingjar caps. I v

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a jar capopener for hermetic side seal caps with the handle thereof rounded toprovide strength and rigidity for removing tightly fitting caps.

' Another object of the present invention is a jar cap-opener having asemi-cylindrical handle and a reinforced jaw capable of transmittingpulling stresses on the jaw as longitudinal forces on the rounded handleportion of the opener.

Another object of the present invention is a jar cap opener having aflattened fulcrum end adapted to be seated upon the top of a 5 cap, anda rounded handle whereby the fulcrum prevents rotation of the opener inthe operators hand, and the round handle facilitates operation of thedevice.

A still further object of the present in- 80 vention is a jar capremover having a jaw below the handle and with a reinforcement betweenthe jaw and the handle to provide clearance for the reception of theflange of a deep skirted jar cap.

Other and further objects of the present invention will in part beobvious and will in part be pointed out herein-after in thespecification following by reference to the accompanying drawingsforming a part thereof and in which like parts are represented by likecharacters throughout the several figures thereof.

Figure l is a plan view looking at the bottom of the opener;

Figure 2 is a side View of the opener; Figure 3 is a perspective view ofthe opener;

Figure 4 illustrates the operation of 'the opener on one form ofhermetic seal;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail of the opener head; j

Figure 6 is an end View looking at the end of the handle; and

portion with the forward edge of the body' portion elxtcnding beyond theside flanges to form lips for engaging a bottle cap. Such prior artdevices have been adapted for use with relatively easily removed capsand such devices have not been designed particularly with the idea ofutilizing maximum strength. When such devices are utilized to removelarge caps such as are tightly hermetically sealed upon packing jars andthe like, by being sealed under pressure on the jar, these devices haveproven unsatisfactory. \Vhere attempts have been made to increase thesize of the cast and wire devices to gain strength, the devices havebeen unsightly and unwieldy. V here attempts have been made to utilizesheet metal in making the known prior'art designs into more powerfulopeners, the manufacturing operations become so expensive as to besubstantially prohibitive; and the prior art sheet metal shapes, such asflat body portions with forwardly extending flanges, are notsufiiciently strong. due to the designs, unless exceedingly heavy metalis used which increases cost and quickly wears out. Furthermore in usingthe sheet metal type of openers comprising a fiat body portion with apair of forwardly extending flanges and a rounded nose it is necessaryfor the operator to tightly grip the body portion to prevent the devicefrom rolling on the bottle cap or jar cap. VVheresuch devices areutilized to uncap jars the fiat body portion must be gripped Withsufiicient tightness as to become uncomfortable in the hand of theoperator. I

The present invention overcomes the difiioulties of the known art byproviding a jar cap opener which is designed primarily with the idea ofdisposing of the material in the manner best to sustain the forcesnecessary to uncaptightly sealed hermetic packages.

ages but primarily for The present invention is designed to be utilizedfor uncapping various types of packremovin such jar caps as isillustrated in the ull Patent 1,253,492, January 15, 1918. This type ofcap sets very tightly against the vessel wall and cannot be readilyremoved with the known openers of the prior art.

The present invention comprises a sheet metal opener having a handleportion that is rounded to fit the hand and is provide with a fiatfulcrum bar adapted to rest upon the cover part of the cap in suchmanner as to securely seat the opener on the cap and prevent anytendency of the opener to roll in the hand of the operator. A headengaging jaw is connected with the body portion by means of a pressedbracket, or strut, embossment whereby active cover removing forces aredelivered to the handle portion of the device rather than forces whichotherwise would tend to bend the bead engaging 1 Referring now to thedrawings, the device comprises a handle 1 which is substantiallysemicylindrical in form and tapers slightly from the outer endtoward theforward end. The forward end of the handle is provided with a pair ofarms 2 and 4 which are arched to provide clearance for the flange of thecap to be removed. These arms extend forward substantially parallel andcomprise the fulcrum for the operation of the device. tween the arms andmaintains the arms rigidly spaced apart but permit the arms to bepositively seated on the cap to be removed. Adjacent the handle andbeneath the arms is provided the downwardly and forwardly eri'tendingcap engaging jaw G. This jaw is curved to clearance beneath the arms 2and 4 and the jaw is joined to the handle by means of a reinforcement 7which sustains the jaw in operation and transmits the uncapping forcesto the handle 1 as longitudinal forces. This action is illustrated inFigure 5 which shows the stresses in the arms 2 and f as beingtransmitted by the arrows A to the semicylindrical handle 1, and thearrows B indicate the forces from the cap engaging jaw 6 as also beingtransmitted to the said semicylindrical handle. The handle beingsemi-cylindrical in form sustains these forces readily, particularly inview of the fact that a grasp of the hand on the handle imposes forcesin the direction of the arrows C, Figure 6, which are in opposition tothe un- A flat fulcrum 5 extends be further facilitate capping forcesthat tend to spread the bandle. In other words, the uncapping forcestend to flatten the curvature of the forces whereas the grip of the 0erator tends to increase the curvature. his tool has been found to be caable of manufacture of relatively light weight materials and at the sametime be sufficiently strong to remove the tightest hermetic cap withoutundue efi'ort on the part of the operator.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

' 1. An article of manufacture comprising a cap opener formed from asingle piece of sheet metal and having a handle, a curved jaw beneathsaid handle, a reinforcement bracket comprising an embo'ssment betweensaid'jaw and said handle and adapted to transmit forces from the jaw ascompression stresses to .said handle, arched fulcrum means extendingforward and over said jaw and being adapted to prevent said handle fromrolling when the device is in operation.

2. A cap opener comprising a semi-cylindrical handle, arched armscomprisin extensions of the side walls of the handle, a cap engaging jawoffset below the bottom wall of the said handle, and fulcrum meansjoining the arched arms, said fulcrum means being substantially in linewith the bottom wall of the handle.

3. As an article of manufacture, a cap opener stamped from sheet metalcomprising a handle having a pair of arched fulcrum members extendingforwardly there of, a fiat bar joining the ends of said members, andadapted to rest on the top of a cap to form a fulcrum, said bar being insubstantially the same plane as the bottom of the handle, a cap engagingjaw extending downwardly below the bottom of said handle. andreenforcing means between the jaw and the bottom of the handle tominimize the bending stresses on the jaw when in use by transmitting thesame to the handle as compression stresses.

4. As an article of manufacture, a sheet metal cap opener comprising ahandle having a pair of arched fulcrum members extending forwardlythereof, a fiat bar joining the ends of said members, and adapted torest on the top of a cap to form a fulcrum,

said bar being in substantially the same plane as the bottom of thehandle, and a cap engaging jaw extending downwardly below the bottom ofsaid handle.

WILLIAM F. HITE.

